It’s January 30, 2022 as I type this.  A few days ago, I put out a video on the YouTube channel where I looked through the parts I have on hand and ordered a strat body and loaded pickguard from GFS, aka guitarfetish.com.  I had to crank the video out kind of quickly, so I’m posting this handy checklist as a companion to the Partscaster Build series.

If you want to build a strat from parts, you will need:

  • Strat neck
  • Nut
  • Tuners
  • String Tree
  • Back Plate
  • Four neck screws
  • Body
  • Pickguard
  • Pickguard Screws
  • Three pickups
  • Two or three pots
  • One or two capacitors
  • Wires
  • Five Way Switch
  • Output Jack
  • Bridge Plate with Screws
  • Trem Block
  • Trem Block Screws
  • Six Saddles with screws and springs
  • Trem Claw
  • Two to Four Trem Springs
  • Back Plate with Screws (Optional)

The great thing about Strats is that you can upgrade pretty much every part on them.  That means you could turn a Squier Standard Strat into an American Strat, one part at a time, if you want to.  It means the Strat is also the most repairable guitar on the market.  It’s one of the many reasons I love the Strat.

But the Strat is not currently my favorite guitar – that honor goes to my PRS S2 Satin 24.  Why?  The single biggest reason is the scale length.  The PRS scale length is 25, slightly more than a Gibson Les Paul and slightly less than a Strat.  The frets on a Strat are further apart than on a PRS.  That makes the PRS slightly easier to play.

There’s also the sound.  Yes, a humbucker in a Strat can sound like a humbucker in any guitar, but when you put a humbucker in a Strat, you lose something in the middle/bridge position.

Still, there’s some music that doesn’t sound right on any other guitar.  When you want a Strat sound, you need a Stratocaster.  Or a Partscaster.

Happy Building!